You might be missing a: (require "abcl-contrib") line. The following is what works for me. I've got abcl-contrib.jar in the same directory as abcl.jar :
---- ~$ java -jar /usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl.jar Armed Bear Common Lisp 1.4.0 Java 1.8.0_11 Oracle Corporation Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM Low-level initialization completed in 0.392 seconds. Startup completed in 1.994 seconds. Type ":help" for a list of available commands. CL-USER(1): (require "abcl-contrib") Using probed value of abcl-contrib: '/usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl-contrib.jar'. Added jar:file:/usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl-contrib.jar!/quicklisp/ to ASDF. Added jar:file:/usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl-contrib.jar!/mvn/ to ASDF. Added jar:file:/usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl-contrib.jar!/jss/ to ASDF. Added jar:file:/usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl-contrib.jar!/jfli/ to ASDF. Added jar:file:/usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl-contrib.jar!/asdf-jar/ to ASDF. Added jar:file:/usr/local/abcl-bin-1.4.0/abcl-contrib.jar!/abcl-asdf/ to ASDF. ("uiop" "UIOP" "LOOP" "asdf" "ASDF" "abcl-contrib") CL-USER(2): (require "jss") ("COMPILER-TYPES" "KNOWN-FUNCTIONS" "JVM-CLASS-FILE" "JAVA" "KNOWN-SYMBOLS" "DUMP-FORM" "COMPILER-ERROR" "JVM-INSTRUCTIONS" "JVM" "COMPILER-PASS1" "COMPILER-PASS2" "JSS") CL-USER(3): (use-package "JSS") T CL-USER(4): ----
Vibhu