Macbook pro mid-2012 recognizes only certain HDDs/SSDs when connected internally

Hello,

I wanted to upgrade my HDD Toshiba of 500GB with an SSD, so I bought a 1TB new SSD (Silicon Power brand). I tested it on another computer, it works perfectly, either internally or through USB-to-SATA cable. However, when installed internally to the macbook, it is not recognized (I put it in connected to SATA cable, I started Internet Recovery - it does not show up at all in Disk Utility). I also tried a Crucial SSD of 2TB, same result. The same happened with a Crucial of 240GB.

Tried also with a Fordisk SSD of 240GB, a Fordisk of 120GB and a Samsung Evo 860 250GB mSATA on a mSATA-to-SATA adapter board. These 3 get recognized, I can initialize and partition them in Disk Utility etc etc.

As I have also quite a few unused HDDs, I tried a Seagate SSHD of 1TB, a Seagate FireCuda of 2TB, an old Hitachi of 250GB and an old Western Digital of 500GB. They all do not get recognized either.

All of these disks function perfectly in USB connection - I can initialize/partition them in Disk Utility, I can install MacOSs (Mountain Lion, Sierra, Mojave) and Linux and they all boot fine, so there's no problem with any of them. The 3 smaller SSDs mentioned function consistently Ok when installed internally, I installed a MacOS Sierra on one of them, a Linux Mint 19.2 on another and a Windows 8 Pro on the last one, so I would say there's nothing wrong with the internal SATA cable or with anything on the motherboard. The old original HDD also functions consistently.

I thought perhaps newer disks being faster might not "handshake" well with the board, but my older ones (Hitachi, Western Digital - they are from before 2010) don't function either, whereas the old original Toshiba HDD of the Macbook functions well.

This leaves me with the problem of not being able to install any of the bigger SSDs, and I can't figure out why. The only logical conclusion for me is that certain brands of HDDs/SSDs simply are not recognized by the motherboard. I could risk and buy a bigger Samsung Evo 860, but what if it's in fact another explanation and I end up with a new SSD that I can't use ?

Has anyone any idea why this happens and what I could do in order to see my SSDs recognized ? Has anyone had the same problem ? Is there any workaround ?

Thank you in advance.