Notebook Audio

First off, I had a no-sound problem at one point before I upgraded to Windows 11, when I had Windows 10. I do not know what the exact solution was but most likely it was some update that cured it, and prior to my recent update to Windows 11 audio was working. I am not convinced that it is simply the upgrade to Windows 11, or it is the fault of Windows 11.

Here is the issue.

After the upgrade to Windows 11, sound stopped coming out of the laptop's speakers, and I assume the microphone stopped working as well - I did not test. Assuming that the same old problem recurred, I reinstalled Realtek drivers only. I did not reinstall any other drivers. The Windows Update is current and there are no updates outstanding.

The laptop DOES play sound when plugged into my external speakers via my Plugable docking station, when it is using Plugable drivers. The external microphone attached to the docking station also works when the laptop is plugged into the docking station. So the MB is capable of delivering sound.

Unplugged from the docking station (i.e. using the Realtek drivers) and with headphones plugged into the headphone port, sound is heard. Microphone plugged into the same port (which has a headset icon so I assume it can work both ways) produces no input. But I get sound OUT of this jack.

Any ideas? Is this a known issue?