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Is this an Apple II Hard Drive Interface Card?

Forums > Vintage Apple > Apple I/II/III

Jlgarcia
New Tinkerer
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Joined: Mar 7, 2022
Posts: 9
Likes: 5
Nov 26, 2022 - #1
Hi,

I have recently bought some Apple II cards. One of them is a Corvus Systems (Rev 1) that seems to be a Hard Drive interface card.

I don't have a hard drive to test it, but although it has some rework on the backside it looks pretty good.






Any comments will be really appreciated.

Thanks,
Jose Luis
Attachments:
Corvus1.jpg [View]
Corvus2.jpg [View]
Corvus3.jpg [View]
Corvus4.jpg [View]

retr01
Senior Tinkerer
Utah, USA
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Joined: Jun 6, 2022
Posts: 2,474
Likes: 810
Nov 26, 2022 - #2
Hi @Jlgarcia! It seems to be an early version of the Corvus hard drive interface card that connects to a Corvus external hard drive. Here is what a later revision card looks like. :)

Those cards were produced for the Apple II, Apple II+, and Apple //e in 1980 and later. This particular card was tested by a Corvus employee named Don M on September 9, 1986.

Attachments:
1669503447703.png [View]

Liked by flag4andJlgarcia

retr01
Senior Tinkerer
Utah, USA
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Joined: Jun 6, 2022
Posts: 2,474
Likes: 810
Nov 26, 2022 - #3
And this is one of the brochures for the Corvus hard drive.

Attachments:
1669503575250.png [View]
1669503971101.png [View]

Liked by Jlgarcia

Jlgarcia
New Tinkerer
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Joined: Mar 7, 2022
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Nov 26, 2022 - #4
>> retr01 said:
And this is one of the brochures for the Corvus hard drive. View attachment 10004 View attachment 10007 Click to expand...

Hi @retr01 , thank you for the update, it's an interesting card, and whatching your pcb layout I can see how it has changed through the years.

It wold be great to get one of those HD and give it a try:)

Could it be possible to connect any other HD using this card?

Cheers!

retr01
Senior Tinkerer
Utah, USA
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Joined: Jun 6, 2022
Posts: 2,474
Likes: 810
Nov 26, 2022 - #5
Those are hard to find. I just saw one on eBay:

Corvus Systems 10MB Winchester Hard Disk Drive Apple II Vintage Collectible | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Corvus Systems 10MB Winchester Hard Disk Drive Apple II Vintage Collectible at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Attachments:
www.ebay.com [View]

retr01
Senior Tinkerer
Utah, USA
--------
Joined: Jun 6, 2022
Posts: 2,474
Likes: 810
Nov 26, 2022 - #6
>> Jlgarcia said:
Could it be possible to connect any other HD using this card? Click to expand...

Since this is a Corvus interface card rather than a SCSI card, I am unsure about connecting to other external hard drives. Corvus was developed and produced around the same time that SCSI-1 was developed. The Apple SCSI (and perhaps others?) card was then created and marketed later for the Apple II series to connect to a wider variety of external hard drives.

retr01
Senior Tinkerer
Utah, USA
--------
Joined: Jun 6, 2022
Posts: 2,474
Likes: 810
Nov 27, 2022 - #7
Here is an advertisement for the Corvus Hard Disk system for the Apple II in the November 1979 issue of Byte magazine.

Attachments:
1669506972828.png [View]

Liked by Jlgarciaandskate323k137

Jlgarcia
New Tinkerer
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Joined: Mar 7, 2022
Posts: 9
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Nov 27, 2022 - #8
>> retr01 said:
Those are hard to find. I just saw one on eBay: Corvus Systems 10MB Winchester Hard Disk Drive Apple II Vintage Collectible | eBay Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Corvus Systems 10MB Winchester Hard Disk Drive Apple II Vintage Collectible at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products! www.ebay.com Click to expand...
I see, hard and expensive. Probably for me, been in Spain, it's going to be almost impossible.

Cheers!
Attachments:
www.ebay.com [View]

retr01
Senior Tinkerer
Utah, USA
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Joined: Jun 6, 2022
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Nov 27, 2022 - #9
Another Corvus for less. A project to restore it.

Attachments:
www.ebay.com [View]

Jlgarcia
New Tinkerer
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Joined: Mar 7, 2022
Posts: 9
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Nov 27, 2022 - #10
>> retr01 said:
Since this is a Corvus interface card rather than a SCSI card, I am unsure about connecting to other external hard drives. Corvus was developed and produced around the same time that SCSI-1 was developed. The Apple SCSI (and perhaps others?) card was then created and marketed later for the Apple II series to connect to a wider variety of external hard drives. Click to expand...

That makes sense, I will have to find one if I want to test it.

Thanks a lot for your comments, I have learnt a lot!

Cheers!

Liked by retr01

Jlgarcia
New Tinkerer
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Joined: Mar 7, 2022
Posts: 9
Likes: 5
Nov 27, 2022 - #11
>> retr01 said:
Another Corvus for less. A project to restore it. Vintage Corvus Systems 6MB HDD for Apple 2 & Others As-Is Free Shipping | eBay Sold strictly as-is for parts only. www.ebay.com Click to expand...
That's a good price although they don't send to Spain [worried][worried].

Thanks!

Cheers!
Attachments:
www.ebay.com [View]

pmontelo
New Tinkerer
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Joined: Oct 10, 2025
Posts: 1
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Oct 11, 2025 - #12
>> retr01 said:
Hi @Jlgarcia ! It seems to be an early version of the Corvus hard drive interface card that connects to a Corvus external hard drive. Here is what a later revision card looks like. Those cards were produced for the Apple II, Apple II+, and Apple //e in 1980 and later. This particular card was tested by a Corvus employee named Don M on September 9, 1986. View attachment 10003 Click to expand...
I am looking for a copy of this A4.7 firmware for my card, if anyone has the 2K binary file that I can burn into a 2716, I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you!
Attachments:
IMG_1819.jpg (1,020.3 KB)

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