In the host process, I load Slime through asdf, then I start it by invoking
(setq swank:*use-dedicated-output-stream* nil) (swank:create-server :port 9090 :dont-close t :style nil)
So far, so good. The style argument isn't needed, but shouldn't prevent SLIME from working.
I have also tested without the style argument, without *use-dedicated-output-stream*, and with neither.
Are you sure they are the same version? The error message looks as if one end is using an old version of the protocol.
Well, I double-checked by temporarily replacing the copy that wasn't in the bundle with a symlink to the copy that was (suitable for testing but not deployment). I also cleaned out all the .dfsl files in ~/.slime/, in case any of them were stale. So they should be running from the same directory tree now. It still gave the same error.
-- Dan Knapp