Problems installing new HDD

[traffens]

I have a mid 2012 macbook pro that had a corrupted hard drive. I'm trying to install a new hard drive.

I got a 500GB 5400RPM drive. I erased it and formatted it as journaled using my current 2013 MBP.

After plugging it into the 2012mbp, I try to install Mojave using an external booter. I begin getting errors of this type:

It hangs and nothing happens.

I then tried to go through recovery to install OSX Mavericks (The original OS). The install process took about 30 hours (i tried twice) and failed both times in the end with an error "failed to download additional components".

At one point, the mojave installer began, and then threw an error regarding APFS. So, I tried to use disk utility to convert the HDD to apfs, and it failed. error -69860.

I'm tearing my hair out and I don't know where i'm going wrong. Any ideas?
[doublepost=1551400670][/doublepost]IFJS: Package Authoring Error: access to path /tmp/.. requires <options allow-external-scripts='true'>

 

[crawfish963]

It could be an issue with the cable (crimping or connection issues). Just curious, is there any reason you aren't using an SSD? It would make the machine run much faster. It's also possible your new HDD is a bad one.

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes, with those kinds of issues, always try replacing the SATA cable.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Replace the internal hard drive ribbon cable...
AND
... consider using an SSD for the internal drive.

A 5400rpm platter-based hard drive is going to be TOO SLOW to use with any modern version of the Mac OS.

I would also recommend either Low Sierra (10.12) or High Sierra (10.13) instead of Mojave.

Want to find out REALLY QUICK if the old internal drive was "corrupted" or not?
Then get one of these (they're cheap):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011M8YACM/ref=nosim/macintouchcom-20?&tag=macintouchcom-20

Plug the old hard drive into it.
Plug it into the MPB. YOU DON'T NEED A DRIVE CONNECTED INTERNALLY TO TRY THIS.
Press the power on button and hold down the option key continuously until the startup manager appears.
Do you see the old drive in startup manager? Then select it with the pointer and click return.
What happens next?