Symmetric 375

If you have questions, please do Not first email the author, instead join the mail list, then mail that list and the author.

I owned two of the last surviving Symmetric 375s (one went to "Bernd Kopriva" <bernd @ Kopriva _ERASE_ .de> Nov. 2003, & 2nd one too, 2006.05.10) (He also has what was my PC532.)

Occasionally people discover spare machines, & want to rebuild them, so I'm putting virtually all info on the net, including distribution tape & other binaries such as gcc & gdb, + scs reconfigurable kernel kit etc. If you discover one of these extremely rare boxes, don't throw it out - you can now reinstall it instead.

My FTP Archive: ftp://ftp.berklix.com/pub/symmetric/ I stopped merging & reducing & re ordering it around 2006.05.11 there's still duplication of some components. Several index files exist there in capital letter names. Somebody else is welcome to use tools like find & md5 & my own cmpd to further reduce it please.

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        S Y M M E T R I C   3 7 5
 Hardware: Symmetric 375, Processor NSC 32016, 11.0592 MHz, 2Mbyte RAM,
    WD1002-05 + 1-3 ST506 ~75M Discs, 4 x Serial, Ethernet, 1 Parallel,
     3.5 & 5.25" Flop.
 Timezone Kernel: PDT=GMT-7.  Not year 2000 compliant clock,
        so rdist will fail in direction this host to modern host.
make:
     28672 /bin/make
     29696 /usr/bin/local/make
    105472 /usr/gnu/bin/make
    /usr2/local/include/make:   bsd msdos system_5 unix
    /usr2/local/make:       make.c makefile
Coms Program Binaries:
    /usr/local/kermit   works ok (to guug)
        If Symmetric/modem link is at 38400, transfers fail, 9600 is OK.
    /usr/bin/local/kermit-5a has been compiled, but not tested.
    /usr/bin/local/sz   works ok (to pc532)
    /usr/bin/local/xmodem   untested
    gnu/taylor uucp & ftp binaries (slip included) exist.
SCS Binaries:   C,Pascal,2 Basics,F77,APL,Lisp,Prolog,Ingres,Gdb,Emacs,Kermit.
By SCS CC:  /usr/src/local/*.  Little Smalltalk 3.04.  Zmodem (sz,rz),
        Egrep, Gas, Gas-1.38.1, Gdb-3.5, Grep, Install, Tar, Texi2index,
        Texi2roff Objdump, Patch-2.0.12u4.
By GCC:     Bash-1.05, Bash-1.12, Bison-1.11, Cpio-1.4, Fileutils-1.4,
        Find-2.2, GCC-1.40, Ghostscript-2.3, Make-3.60, Zoo-2.1.
        Kermit-5a, gzip-1.2.2, vile
In gnu/bin: cat chmod cmp cp cut d dd dir du egrep gsnd head install ln ls
        mkdir mkfifo mt mv objdump paste rm rmdir tac tail touch v vdir 
Timezone:   PDT - (as reconfigurable kit to permit MET has bad tape driver).
   

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  DEVICE NAMES MENTIONED WHEN BOOTING:
      en is ether
      wd is winch drive
      sb = scsi
      cst is cassette tape
      cpu is scsi address 1
      cst 2 is scsi address 2
  

  ---

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  CONTENTS OF /usr/include/sys/reboot.h
      /* * @(#)reboot.h   3.1 7/29/84
       * @(#)Copyright (C) 1984 by National Semiconductor Corp.  */
      /* * Arguments to reboot system call.
       * These are passed to boot program in r11,
       * and on to init.  */
      #define RB_AUTOBOOT 0   /* flags for system auto-booting itself */
      #define RB_ASKNAME  0x01    /* ask for file name to reboot from */
      #define RB_SINGLE   0x02    /* reboot to single user only */
      #define RB_NOSYNC   0x04    /* don't sync before reboot */
      #define RB_HALT 0x08    /* don't reboot, just halt */
      #define RB_INITNAME 0x10    /* name given for /etc/init */
      #define RB_DFLTROOT 0x20    /* don't use bootdev for rootdev */
      #define RB_PANIC    0   /* reboot due to panic */
      #define RB_BOOT 1   /* reboot due to boot() */
  

  ---

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  BOOTING SYNTAX
  Stop unix (& sync discs)
      halt
  Boot from ?
      b0
  Load /boot resulting in prompt Boot:
      b1
  Boot multi user :
      b   or  b 0
  Boot /vmunix single user:
      b2
  Single to Multi user
      ^D
  Load boot from winchester, resulting in Boot: prompt
      b3  or  b 3 or  b 3 0
  Stand alone formatter from Boot:
      wd0a:/stand/format
          wd0h:           would access usr partition
          fd0         probably would access floppy disc
          cst2f           To format winchester
  Boot from cst2b:
          (wd0a:/boot was unusable (copied from miniroot))
          (unfortunately this boot doesn't recognise fd0: addresses,
          wdstrategy complains I/O out of filesystem boundaries)
      b3 1 2
  Boot Single User From Floppy (manual page 104) - this does not read
          wd0a:/boot, but instead reads wd3a:/boot (the floppy boot)
      b2 0 3
  Boot From Tape
      b3 1 2
  Boot From Winchester Swap Partition (after installing miniroot in swap
          partition with initroot program
      b3
      wd0b:vmunix
  

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  My drive is a TEAC MT-2ST/45S-24-U:w
  Maxell CS 600HD
      I think the Maxell CS600HX are 150M tapes.
      Tapes considered by Inmac & Seemuller to be 60M,
      But Symmetric considers them 50M, whether `testblock' blocking set to
      4k or 20k, Presumably what would stand a better chance of changing
      the capacity is to change the block size in the driver.
      Seemuller    Oct 1990
          49DM 1 off
          40DM 10 off
      SOLUTIONS Ltd +44 959 61204  May 90
          1 box of 10 @ 5% discount
          150 off price retail at #170 with 30% discount
      nbn Elektronik GmbH,         April 90
          Herr Kulartz, Gewerbegebeit, Herrsching. +49 8152 1017
          50M 1 cassette @ 45 DM
          60M 1 cassette @ 55 DM
          60M 10 cassettes @ 38 DM
          60M 50 cassettes @ 33 DM
          all + mwst + 1% + post (post=10dm for 10)
  SCS Inc (Defunct)
      $22.5   tapes found to be 40M
  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
  

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  power converter, standard pc to symmetric
  ( as made ~910918, dismantled 9301 )
  
  standard pc         symmetric
  1    + 5 --+          0 1 black
  2    + 5 --+----------+--   + 5 2 red
  3    + 5 --+    +-----#--   +12 3 yellow
  4    - 5   |    |     |   0 4 black
  5      0   |    |     +--   + 5 5 red
  6      0   |    |  +-----   -12 6 violet
  7      0   |    |  |
  8      0   |    |  |
  9    -12 --#----#--+
  10   +12 --#----+
  11   + 5 --+
  12  (+ 5)
  
  power consumptions estimate @ 9301
      tape 12v 1.6A max steady (presumably when streaming), more at start.
      tape  5v 1  A max steady (presumably when streaming), more at start.
      micropolis 5" disc 12 2A average 4.3 @ start.
      micropolis 5" disc  5 2A average.
      cpu (by observation) 5V 70mA, 12V 50mA, -12V 45mA.
  

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      FLOPPY INTERFACE PIN OUTS
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  JULIAN'S COMBINED 5.25" + 3.5" FLOPPY DRIVE BOX
      (3.5" Chinon drive added to original TEAC 5.25" drive)
          TEAC    Part No     FD-55FV-13-U    19307200-13
          Chinon Model No    FB357
      Originally from Symmetric, usable by Unix & to be tried by Toshiba)
      This is the wiring inside the steel box, not the wiring on the external
      34 ribbon to 25 D converter (though this can be expected to normally
      be the same).
         D 25 PIN   RIBBON WIRE NUMBER    SIGNAL NAME
       1      34      Disk Change (Ready)
       2      8       Index
       3      26      Track 0
       4      28      Write Protect Detected
       5      30      Read Data
       6      4       In Use (External LED)
       7      6       Drive Select 3
       8      14      Drive Select 2
       9      12      Drive Select 1
      10      10      Drive Select 0
      11      16      Motor On
      12      22      Write Data
      13      24      Write Gate
      14       2      Mode Select (Disk Change)
      15      32      Side 1 Select
      16      18      Step Direction
      17      20      Step Pulse
      18-25       GROUND      All odd pins (1-33)
      TOGGLE SWITCH   Alternates Select 0 & 1 lines before presentation
              to floppies.
      Signals on flop interface are 0=active.
      Observation of HD line on Chinon 3.5" drive:
          5v= Hi Dens (hole), or No Disc, 0V=720K
      Although the 3.25" is a 1.4M drive, the Symmetric cant use it,
          because WD controller needs to double frequency.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  34 WAY RIBBON CABLE FLOPPY SIGNAL NAMES
  Pin In |Chinon 3.5" (jhs)   | NEC 3.5" (sja)      | NEC 5.25" (sja)    | Sym.
      Out|FB-357 (135 tpi)     | FD1137H         | FD1157C        | Port
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
   2 I *Mode Slct *DskChange   | Density (Hi=0,Lo=1) | <--        | N/C
   4 I In Use LED          | N/C         | Head Load/In Use   | N/C
   6 I *Drive Select 3         | Drive Select 3      | <--        | Sel 0
   8 O Index           | <--         | <--        | <--
  10 I Drive Select 0      | <--         | <--        | Sel 1
  12 I Drive Select 1      | <--         | <--        | Sel 2
  14 I *Drive Select 2         | Drive Select 2      | <--        | Sel 3
  16 I Motor On            | <--         | <--        | <--
  18 I Direction Select (In)   | <--         | <--        | <--
  20 I Step            | <--         | <--        | <--
  22 I Write Data          | <--         | <--        | <--
  24 I Write Gate          | <--         | <--        | <--
  26 O Track 0             | <--         | <--        | <--
  28 O Write Protect Detected  | <--         | <--        | <--
  30 O Read Data           | <--         | <--        | <--
  32 I Side Select         | <--         | <--        | <--
  34 O Disk Change *Ready      | Disc Change     | Disk Change*Ready  | N/C
      *Bla means text following asterisk is an option
      <--  means same as entry to left.     N/C means not connected
      Input/output direction is viewed from drive (not computer)
      Symmetric pin outs are taken from page 187 of SCS manual
      these do not conform to normal select conventions,
      Symmetric manual is wrong - probably applies to how floppy port looks
      if an internal floppy is fitted.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Toshiba T1100+ FLOPPY PIN OUTS
  From: rpw3@ amdcad AMD.COM (Rob Warnock) Systems Architecture Consultant
  Date: 7 Jul 87 05:44:43 GMT
  UUCP:     {amdcad,fortune,sun,attmail}!redwood!rpw3
  ATTmail:  !rpw3
  DDD:      (415)572-2607
  USPS:     627 26th Ave, San Mateo, CA  94403
  Toshiba doesn't document the pin outs on the 25-pin connector
  on the back, the one that's shared between the external floppy (can be either
  disk "A" or "B") and the parallel printer.
  So I engaged in a little electrical
  sleuthing, and figured it out the hard way (with the help of a voltmeter and
  many LEDs and an oscilloscope).  I believe I've succeeded [Minix boots!], and
  present the results herein.  May it be of some use to someone else.
  DISCLAIMER: There are no guarantees that this information is correct,
  reliable, or safe. While I am indeed using the connection described in
  my own system, I cannot guarantee that it will function in yours, or
  that it will not damage your system. There are at least two ambiguous
  pairs of signals in the pin outs [which I think don't matter, see below],
  and other pins which I show as "unused", even though they appear to have
  termination voltages on them. [Anyone having better information as to
  the "official" pin outs, please correct me.]
  I used a half-height Mitsubishi drive , using a small power pack,
  I'm a bit worried that 300ma of +12v might not be enough),
  T1100+ DB-25 pin    Signal name Floppy edge-connector pin
  ----------------    ----------- -------------------------
      01      Ready           34  [Note#1]
      02      Index           08  [Note#1]
      03      Track0          26
      04      Write-Protect       28
      05      Read-Data       30
      06-09       (n/u)               [Note#3]
      10      Select          10  [Note#2]
      11      Motor-On        16  [Note#2]
      12      Write-Data      22
      13      Write-Enable        24
      14      (n/u)               [Note#3]
      15      Head-Select     32
      16      Step-Direction      18
      17      Step-Pulse      20
      18-25       GROUND          All odd pins (1-33)
  Notes:
  #1. It appears that Ready and Index are AND'ed together inside the T1100+
      controller, since the disk worked equally well whichever signal was
      connected to pins 01 or 02. The assignment given above was chosen
      arbitrarily.
  #2. It appears that Select and Motor-On are are driven by the same signal
      inside the T1100+ controller, since the disk worked equally well whichever
      signal was connected to pins 10 or 16, and I did not see any difference
      on a 'scope. The assignment given above was chosen arbitrarily.
  #3. Pins 6-9 and 14 seem "unused", though they do have +5 "pull ups" on them.
      (This may be due to those signals being used when the port is selected
      as the parallel printer.)
  #4. All signals are "active-low", and are pulled up to +5 by the T1100+ when
      inactive.
  As I said above, it seems to work fine: MS-DOS "format" works, MS-DOS floppies
  can be read and written, and Minix boots and reads /usr.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  FLOPPY DISC RIBBON INTERFACE CABLE WITH TWIST As purchased by JHS 9-90.
  With 3 sets of [ 3.5" floppy twist connectors + 3 5.25" floppy connector ],
  and a twist between one set and the other 2 sets.
  
  First 9 wires are straight through connection,
  next 7 are twisted in a group, rest are straight.
           1   straight   1
           9   straight   9
       Select 0   10    twist    16   Motor On
       ground 11    twist    15   ground
       Select 1   12    twist    14   (Select 2)
       ground 13    twist    13   ground
       (Select 2) 14    twist    12   Select 1
       ground 15    twist    11   ground
       Motor On   16    twist    10   Select 0
          17   straight  17
          34   straight  34
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  TOSHIBA LAPTOP MANUAL : as read by Joe McBeth (deceased)
      (female on floppy & computer)
  T1100+ DB-25 PIN    TOSH SIGNAL NAME
      01      Extern Drive Ready
      02      Index
      03      Track0
      04      Write-Protect
      05      Read-Data
      06      Disc Change
      07-09       Not Used
      10      Drive Select 1
      11      Motor-On
      12      Write-Data
      13      Write-Gate
      14      Low Density
      15      Side 1 Select
      16      Step-Direction
      17      Step-Pulse
      18-25       GROUND
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  NEC LAPTOP `MULTISPEED' MANUAL DESCRIBING EXTERNAL FDC SOCKET
      As read by Julian           (15 PIN)
          SIGNAL      SIGNALBEZEICHNUNG   I/O
       1  Index       Inhaltsverzeichnis  0
       2  Motor On C  Motoreinschaltung C 1
       3  Select D    Laufwerkswahl D     1
       4  Select C    Laufwerkswahl C     1
       5  Motor On D  Motoreinschaltung D 1
       6  Step Direction  Laufrichtung        1
       7  Step        Schrittimpuls       1
       8  Write Data  Dateneinschreibung  1
       9  Write Enable    Schreibfreigabe     1
      10  Track 0     Spur 0          0
      11  Write protect   Schreibschutz       0
      12  Data        Dateileistung       0
      13  Head 1      Wahl Schreibkopf    1
      14&15   Ground      Erde
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      NOTES ON FLOPPY DRIVERS - By Julian H. Stacey
  To accompany valid, dd, symmetric, unix msdos debug scenarios.
  
  The Symmetric Unix device driver source was read, this
  reads both head 0 & 1 of track 0, before progressing to track 1.
  
  MSDOS BOOT SECTOR ANALYSIS
      From head 0 sector 1 track 0 (note high byte is 2nd byte, ie 0C for
      first high byte) Reference: Advanced Msdos by Ray Duncan, page 166.
      OFFSET  KEY:
      -   1   size as reported by chkdsk ("bytes total disc space")
      -   2   media size 5.25" / 3.5" as 525 or 350
      0B & 0C 3   bytes per sector
      0D  4   sectors per cluster
      0E & 0F 5   reserved sectors
      10  6   number of FATs (File Allocation Tables)
      11 & 12 7   root entries
      13 & 14 8   total sectors
      15  9   media descriptor
      16 & 17 10  sectors per FAT
      18 & 19 11  sectors per track
      1A & 1B 12  heads
      1C & 1D 13  hidden sectors
      -   14  tracks per head (derived, not explicit in boot block)
      -   15  comment
  1   2   3   4 5 6 7   8    9   10 11 12 13 14 15
  1457664 350 512 1 1 2 224 2880 240  9 18  2  0 80 IBM PS/30 Msdos 3.3
  730112  350 512 2 1 2 112 1440 249  3  9  2  0 80 Toshiba  Msdos 3.2
  362496  525 512 2 1 2 112  720 253  2  9  2  0 40 IBM  3.1
  368640  525 512 2 1 2 112  720 253  2  9  2  0 40 IBM 3.1 IP's
  160256  525 512 2      640         8  1    40 Sanyo 1.? from boot sector
      Boot sector from the 160K disc does not make sense
  
  Comcen (ukc) wrote a disc readable by G0
  IP's PC-AT clone wrote a 360K floppy readable with /dev/rfdE0.
  

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  SCS User group contacts from Jordan 
  Bill Blue (enet bdale) was head of SCS user group
      bdale @ 2003.12 has just the PCBs, & will sub. the mail list.
      Bill Blue was also a big symmetric (dealer/user?)
  Paul Vixie: Much experience of SCS, but now sold his machine to chuck.
  Chuck:
      Jordan said:
          when winchester aged, the 12V 3.5 A power supply was
          not enough, needed 4A, so he upgraded to a 5A supply.
      Jordan says he has Paul Leaskys machine, & bill blue's,
      he said he only has 1.
      he has 3 drives, both size floppies, and tape., no ether
  

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  Floppies - Chucks Labels on Chuck's floppies received from Paul 930108 (field order varies in accordance with varied floppy label order)

  Contents:
  Format:
  Vols:   1
  Date:   1/28/86
  SN: 8504-00049
  System: 375
  Config: 4.2BSD
      FIXIT DISK REV 2.1 wfj/scs
  ------------------
  Contents:   Root FS
  Format: Dump
  Vols:   6
  Date:   4/1/86
  SN:
  System: s/375
  Config: 4.2
  ------------------
  Contents:   Usr FS
  Format: Dump
  Vols:   23
  Date:   4/1/86
  SN:
  System: s/375
  Config: 4.2
  ------------------
  Contents:   4.2BSD FIXIT Floppy Bootable Floppy UNIX System
  Format:     800K Floppy Filesystem
  Date:   3/87
  Vols:   1
  System: 375 4.2BSD
  SN: na
  ------------------
  Contents:   375 Electronic Magazine Dump (Winter/Spring 87) Edition
  Format: Mountable Floppy Filesy
  Date:   6/87
  Vols:   1
  System: 375 4.2BSD
  SN:
  ------------------
  Contents:   375 Electronic Magazine Dump (Winter/Spring 87) Edition
  Format: 800K Floppy Dump
  Date:   6/87
  Vols:   11
  System: 375 4.2BSD
  SN: 8 on Vol-1, 9 On all others
  ------------------
  Contents:   VMUNIX with SCSI    (pencilled scs label)
  Format: tar
  Date:   8/87
  Vols:   1
  System: 375
  SN:
  ------------------
  Contents:   TAR VMUNIX scsird scs...    (pencilled scs label)
  Format:
  Date:
  Vols:
  System:
  SN:
  ------------------
  Hand Written non SCS label
  Symmetric S375
  tar /VMUNIX + tar -xf /dev/rfd0
  ------------------
  Hand Written non SCS label
  SYMMETRIC
  CST0,CST2
  RTC0
  1-19-90 CH (Presumably Chuck Hein )
  Fix it floppy
  ------------------
  Hand Written non SCS label
  SYMMETRIC
  CST2
  CST0    1/19-90 CH
  RTC0
  Fix it floppy
  ------------------
  Hand Written non SCS label
  UU43N
  ------------------
  Hand Written non SCS label
  

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  26-3-87 i phoned symmetric, spoke to phuong Nguyen
  $5k +
  475 cartridge
  500 scsi card
  ~300 delivery
  ~850 if want floppy as well as cartridge
  1200 if 85 rather than 50m disc
  shipping 2 weeks after receipt of cash
  they will apply for an export licence for me.
  terry reckons flights to states cost #500 return (12-87)
  
  comparison of buying a basic symmetric, then upgrading, or buying bigger m/c
  small           big
  4995            8095
  1000    50m>85m     -
  -               + floppy
  600 scsi card
  x   ether
  675 vdu
  ~350    printer
  850 cassette
  
  8470    TOTAL       8375
  implies get ether free if all prices are fair, & want lpr + vdu.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  87-12-17 Lynne quoted me complete system price (based on the July 1st price list
  8095    Complete 375 Software Developers Package
   100    Configurable Kernel
    20    Ingres
    20    EMACS
    15    Spice
    15    TOP
    20    GDB
   330    Transport (2nd day air)
   280    Floppy
  8895    SUB TOTAL
   112.5  5 Tapes @ 22.5
  9007.5  TOTAL
  
  this system does include the scsi, st506, flop & interface
  comes with the schematics for the correct revision
  4.3 still beta test, they are doing scsi research to get a more general driver.
  
  Bank Of America
  Account Number 14184-9-01338
  Palo Alto Corporate Banking Group (CBG)
  Palo Alto California
  1484-94301
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  American Siemens programmer with a Symmetric
  Dave Mysan
  Berlin 011 030 802 5947 (home)
  Potsdamerstra~e 8,
  1000 Berlin 37.
  900629 I tried the number above, no good,
      but answer-phone said it was a berlin number, i left a message asking
      him (whoever) to ring back.
  he has a 90M Seagate,
  had the system 2 years,
  a year ago it died shortly after returning to berlin from a round trip to the states,
  he sent the whole box back to the states,
  they fixed the dead drive
  he knows a chap called tom kern who `sells programmers' in m}nchen
  he said there is no manual documenting the particular pascal dialect used
  franz lisp manual is on machine
  fortran 77 has no manual
  he has a connection to bitnet (post don't know)
  he mentioned the 875,
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  i phoned Lynne to ask what the 875 was,
  the 875 will be a pedestal mounting box, sold to VARs, clipper based, available
  2 1 88, later in the year a clipper upgrade for the 375 will be released
  $5000 8MIPs
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  87-12-19 exchange rate approx 1.63 dm = $1
  Lynne Mesner 9.40 am wed 12 dec. 12.30 ie 30th dec.
  + 1 415 651 6090
  no money in her bank on 29th no mention of receiving my letter
  2nd call, transfer had gone through will ship within 1 to 1.5 weeks
  phoned Lynne, gave her a hard time, she put me on to Bill Jollitz
  88-01-15 I phoned they are waiting for a better tape drive Mon./tues, then will ship,
  I get 4.3 free later, (other customers pay $1K) my machine on test, ok except tape drive.
  cant have 4.3 yet as there is a problem with signals & fp
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  88-01-28 Symmetric delivered.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  88-01-After receipt teac +49 8152 39101 Mr Okada phoned me
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  900629 IDQ phoned USA, there is no firm called Symmetric in fremont,
  900629 00 1 415 651 6090 no answer @ 18:50(mu)=09:48(usa)
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  90-10-11 Jordan confirmed Symmetric had gone belly up!, but there is a Sym. users group
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------