Can't get serializers other than serpent to work

I am trying to use pickle as a serializer (mostly because I do not want to 
be limited to sending and receiving strings) with Pyro4. 

My setup is as follows:
Server running on Windows 7 64bit, Python 2.7.5 32bit, with Pyro4 4.20
Client and NameServer running on Debian Wheezy 64bit, Python 2.7.3 64bit, 
with Pyro4 4.20

Pickle works well - independently of Pyro4 - between the two machines.

Here's the relevant Server code:
    Pyro4.config.reset()
    Pyro4.config.HOST = host
    Pyro4.config.NS_HOST = ns_host
    Pyro4.config.NS_PORT = ns_port
    Pyro4.config.SERIALIZER = 'pickle'
    daemon = Pyro4.Daemon(host=host, port=port)
    ns = Pyro4.locateNS(host=ns_host, port=ns_port)
    uri = daemon.register(MyObject(''))
    ns.register(objectID, uri)
    daemon.requestLoop()

And the trace of the server not starting:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "my_server.py", line 198, in <module>
    main()
  File "my_server.py", line 187, in main
    ns = Pyro4.locateNS(host=ns_host, port=ns_port)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\Pyro4\naming.py", line 331, in 
locateNS
    proxy.ping()
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\Pyro4\core.py", line 161, in __call__
    return self.__send(self.__name, args, kwargs)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\Pyro4\core.py", line 310, in 
_pyroInvoke
    data=self._pyroSerializer.deserializeData(data, compressed=flags & 
MessageFa
ctory.FLAGS_COMPRESSED)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\Pyro4\util.py", line 149, in 
deserializeDa
ta
    return self.loads(data)
  File "C:\Python27\lib\site-packages\Pyro4\util.py", line 334, in loads
    return pickle.loads(data)
cPickle.UnpicklingError: invalid load key, '#'.



The current set up works when configured to use Serpent, but doesn't work 
with any of the other serializers.

Using Serpent I can get the following result sending a msg string and 
returning it (Note the u' ' format?):

(u"It's somewhat working...", u'Yay.')

I'm out of my depth. Any guidance is appreciated.

Thanks,
Ismail


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See everything from the browser to the database with AppDynamics
Get end-to-end visibility with application monitoring from AppDynamics
Isolate bottlenecks and diagnose root cause in seconds.
Start your free trial of AppDynamics Pro today!
http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=48808831&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk