M6700 with e-port plus will not activate multiple external monitors

@kebod  This is quite strange.  There aren't any drivers or firmware for the E-Port dock models, and the only restriction on the E-Port Plus is that the DVI and DP outputs are divided into two "banks", each bank containing a DVI and DP output.  You can't use the DVI and DP outputs from the same bank simultaneously.  But if you're trying 2x DVI or even having one of them on VGA, that should definitely work.  Since you're apparently able to get each display to activate on its own, have you determined whether it might be an issue with one of the banks?  For example, try the following:

• Connect the LaCie to DVI #1 and the Dell to DVI #2. Which one works?
• Switch the DVI cables around so that you have Dell on DVI #1 and LaCie on DVI #2.  Which one works now?
• Disconnect one display entirely, then try the remaining display on DVI #1, then on DVI #2.  Does that display work in both cases?

I have tried every possible combination.  Switched between ports, even switched cables.

@kebod  It sounds like your GPU might be limited to 2 simultaneous displays.  I wouldn't have expected that in a 17" Precision system equipped with a GPU that would have been quite high-end for its time, but then again the M6700 is a bit old by today's standards, and your testing seems to have ruled out all other possible causes.  The fact that you can light up any 2 displays at any given time without having to muck around with cabling suggests that the GPU only has 2 outputs that can be used at any given time.

@kebod I have the same situation, but I had a surprising experience when I used my laptop and docking station at work.

I found an E/Port Plus II docking station in the "miscellaneous computer parts" closet at work, but with no power supply. I brought in a good (240W) power supply from home, and it would only activate 1 external monitor at a time. I had a monitor connected via DisplayPort to the Video 1 slot, and another monitor connected to DVI in the Video 2 slot.I also tried connecting the DVI monitor via a passive DVI-to-DP adapter, but with no luck.

After some internet research, I was stumped. So I bought a new docking station on eBay.

I swapped out the old docking station with the "new" one I had bought on eBay and connected the monitors as described above. This arrangement worked fine in conjunction with the laptop display for a total of 3 active monitors.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to get my older docking station at home (a regular E-Port model) to work with two external monitors, but I could only get 2 of the 3 to work. That's any 2 of the 3; it works with the two external monitors if I disable the built-in display, but that's not acceptable. 

Tonight, I brought home my docking station from work (the one I bought on eBay). Keep in mind, it worked fine there with one DP monitor and one DVI monitor. However, I don't have a DP cable at home, so I connected both monitors via DVI. Again, only 2 of the 3 screens can be active at one time; whenever I try all 3, the Settings screen gives me the yellow text, "The display settings could not be saved. Please try a different combination of display settings."

I've tried changing resolutions, changing drivers (I've tried both the latest drivers from AMD and the latest drivers from Dell's support page), disabling/enabling in the Device Manager, all that. No dice.

I'm running Windows 10 on a Precision M4600 with a FirePro M5100. I've had the M5100 in it for years with no issues, though the AMD driver setup always wants to see it as an "AMD Radeon R9 M200X Series" (which is basically the same hardware, as I understand it, and I've seen no difference between the drivers).

I guess I don't have any proven solutions right now, but I thought more information might be helpful. The obvious difference here is that it worked when I used one DP and one DVI, but not when I used two DVI. Also, it worked in one place but not the other. So the possibilities (at least in my case, which seems remarkably similar) as I see them are:

1. Maybe using two DVI connections simultaneously with the laptop display is somehow more problematic than using one DP and one DVI with the laptop display. Using a passive DP-DVI adapter (Dell Part No. 0F388M) for one of the monitors does not fix the issue.
2. Maybe my docking station somehow broke in transit and caused the previously working E-Port Plus II to suffer the same defect as the one I originally found in the supply cabinet at work. I can't imagine how that would've happened, though I did accidentally drop a small, unopened bottle of hand sanitizer on it at one point.

If you can test it using a DP along with a DVI connection (or possibly two DPs), that might lead to a solution. I currently lack the means to do so, though it's certainly a route I plan to pursue if I can't get it to work another way.

Also, I just tested with HDMI-to-DVI and DP-to-DVI adapters plugged directly into my laptop, and again the result is 2 out of 3 displays active at a time. Once again, I don't know if this has anything to do with both adapters being passive.

I achieved the same result with the DP-to-DVI plugged into the docking station, as well as when the DVI was plugged into the docking station directly. The dock doesn't have an HDMI port, so I couldn't try that.

I swapped out the old docking station with the "new" one I had bought on eBay and connected the monitors as described above. This arrangement worked fine in conjunction with the laptop display for a total of 3 active monitors.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to get my older docking station at home (a regular E-Port model) to work with two external monitors, but I could only get 2 of the 3 to work. That's any 2 of the 3; it works with the two external monitors if I disable the built-in display, but that's not acceptable. 

Tonight, I brought home my docking station from work (the one I bought on eBay). Keep in mind, it worked fine there with one DP monitor and one DVI monitor. However, I don't have a DP cable at home, so I connected both monitors via DVI. Again, only 2 of the 3 screens can be active at one time; whenever I try all 3, the Settings screen gives me the yellow text, "The display settings could not be saved. Please try a different combination of display settings."

I've tried changing resolutions, changing drivers (I've tried both the latest drivers from AMD and the latest drivers from Dell's support page), disabling/enabling in the Device Manager, all that. No dice.

I'm running Windows 10 on a Precision M4600 with a FirePro M5100. I've had the M5100 in it for years with no issues, though the AMD driver setup always wants to see it as an "AMD Radeon R9 M200X Series" (which is basically the same hardware, as I understand it, and I've seen no difference between the drivers).

I guess I don't have any proven solutions right now, but I thought more information might be helpful. The obvious difference here is that it worked when I used one DP and one DVI, but not when I used two DVI. Also, it worked in one place but not the other. So the possibilities (at least in my case, which seems remarkably similar) as I see them are:

1. Maybe using two DVI connections simultaneously with the laptop display is somehow more problematic than using one DP and one DVI with the laptop display. Using a passive DP-DVI adapter (Dell Part No. 0F388M) for one of the monitors does not fix the issue.
2. Maybe my docking station somehow broke in transit and caused the previously working E-Port Plus II to suffer the same defect as the one I originally found in the supply cabinet at work. I can't imagine how that would've happened, though I did accidentally drop a small, unopened bottle of hand sanitizer on it at one point.

If you can test it using a DP along with a DVI connection (or possibly two DPs), that might lead to a solution. I currently lack the means to do so, though it's certainly a route I plan to pursue if I can't get it to work another way.

I don't know why, but my first message was removed as spam. I'm offended by that, so I'm posting it here again. This time, however, I'll split it into two messages. Maybe that was the problem.

I have the same situation, but I had a surprising experience when I used my laptop and docking station at work.

I found an E/Port Plus II docking station in the "miscellaneous computer parts" closet at work, but with no power supply. I brought in a good (240W) power supply from home, and it would only activate 1 external monitor at a time. I had a monitor connected via DisplayPort to the Video 1 slot, and another monitor connected to DVI in the Video 2 slot.I also tried connecting the DVI monitor via a passive DVI-to-DP adapter, but with no luck.

After some internet research, I was stumped. So I bought a new docking station on eBay.

Apologies for the double-posting above. My original post was restored after I re-posted, and I don't see an option to edit or delete them now.

I took the docking station back to work, and it still works fine with 3 displays there. Since those external displays are connected via DisplayPort and DVI (with no adapters for either), I've ordered a DP-to-HDMI cable (since my monitor at home has HDMI instead of DisplayPort) and will try using that along with the DVI for the second external monitor. This may or may not be better than using two DVI connections or one DVI and one passive DP-to-DVI adapter. I'll post an update once I test it.

Problem Solved!!!!!

I purchased and installed two (2) BizLink USB powered adapters; D-Link to DVI

The non-powered will not work, but the USB powered adapters work fine.

I now have three (3) displays working: the Laptop, a Lacie, and another Dell.  The only 'quirk' is that the third monitor needs to refresh each time the computer is turned on or wakes from sleep.  No big deal at all.

So with an e-Port Plus docked to this M6700, and installing two USB powered BizLink adapters,... all is fine.

Someone pin this for future knowledge base.

Excellent news! My DP-to-HDMI cable didn't work, as I suspect it met the same issue was the DP-to-DVI cable. Specifically, it's a one-way (passive) adapter, and it seems these systems aren't great with using two of those.

I do have one more question for you, @kebod: does it work with only one of the external displays connected to a USB powered adapter and the other via DVI? I ask because my work setup (which I'm currently using) consists of a single DP-to-DP connected monitor and one DVI-to-DVI connected monitor (plus the laptop display, of course). This suggests to me that they can support one connection to a non-DP monitor as long as the other one is DP, and I'm wondering if the active adapter you're using would count the same as a regular DP-to-DP connection (meaning that the other one could work without the adapter). Either way, that would be informative.