diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index 3673cae..52a7c82 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 History
 =======
 
+
+0.12.1 (2023-11-22)
+-------------------
+
+* fix issue !6 with lowercase symbol names
+* better error when aws clients use free data sample (!7)
+
 0.12.0 (2023-11-18)
 -------------------
 
diff --git a/lakeapi/main.py b/lakeapi/main.py
index 01e5dae..01af24e 100644
--- a/lakeapi/main.py
+++ b/lakeapi/main.py
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ def partition_filter(partition: Dict[str, str]) -> bool:
         )
 
     if symbols:
-        assert symbols[0].upper() == symbols[0]
+        assert symbols[0].upper() == symbols[0] or symbols[0][5:].upper() == symbols[0][5:]
     if exchanges:
         assert exchanges[0].upper() == exchanges[0]
 
@@ -185,6 +185,11 @@ def partition_filter(partition: Dict[str, str]) -> bool:
                         raise lakeapi.exceptions.NoFilesFound("No data found for your query in the free sample dataset. Please subscribe to access more data.")
                     else:
                         raise
+                except botocore.exceptions.UnauthorizedSSOTokenError as ex:
+                    raise PermissionError(
+                        "It seems you use a AWS account and try to access free data. Try using "
+                        "`use_sample_data(anonymous_access=False)` or read https://github.com/crypto-lake/lake-api/issues/7."
+                    )
             else:
                 # got error 404 both before and after the cache.clear()
                 raise last_ex