DVI monitor switches on (not always) via the docing station?

I have 2 monitors that have a VGA and DVI input.

I have a laptop with HDMI out and USB-C (incl. Display port / video out function)

I set up the setup like this:

Laptop> HDMI cable> HDMI to DVI adapter> Monitor 1.
Laptop> USB-C cable> Docingstation> HDMI cable> HDMI to DVI adapter> Monitor 2

The strange thing is that this setup doesn't always work. Sometimes the second monitor starts up, sometimes it doesn't. In my understanding something works or not but why in this case "sometimes yes, sometimes no". I have read that you need an active HDMI cable if you want a DVI input from the monitor, but if that were the case in this case, my setup should never work.

It will probably be due to the fact that notebooks with the limited hardware capacity (graphics chip) and usually an external video output are set up for connection to an external playback device.

the alternative of being able to use the display and video out via the usb-c depends on whether the laptop can handle this costly second use in terms of performance. Just as digital images jerk or stop when there are no signals, there can be a "bottleneck" here depending on the application.

if you are permanently dependent on two monitors, you should think about using a stationary pc with a normal graphics card. For them the dual operation with 2 monitors is a "no brainer"

It is a company laptop that I unfortunately can't exchange for a stationary pc. Every now and then the setup works. That puzzles me. Apart from office applications, the (new) laptop doesn't do anything either