Mic stopped working after Windows Update (Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Headset connected to USB-C hub)

Question

Microsoft Update just rolled a huge set of updates to my rather new Surface Pro 7... and I can no longer use Skype with my gaming headset (with boom mic).

This worked great before the update. (Note, the update to the Surface included the 2020-2H Windows 10, and several pieces of firmware.)

My setup is:

• Surface Pro 7
• USB-C Hub that connects to: 2 external displays, Wired Ethernet, power to the Surface and Gaming Headset

After the update, everything works great, including all ports on the USB-C hub. I can play audio through the Gaming Headset just fine. But the mic does not work (in any application, I tried Skype, Audacity and the audio tool in Control Panel).

The mic input from the USB-C hub is visible in all these apps. But the apps see no signal from that input.

If I plug the headset into the Surface directly (via the audio jack on the surface), the mic DOES work. (However this option is not ultimately useful due to inaccessibility of that port the way this unit is set up. This step was done for diagnostics.)

How to chase down this problem?

(Uninstalling firmware as a diagnostic may not be feasible, as I do not seem to have granular control, and can't spend hours and hours on this, I am already 1-2 hours in.)

Answer 1

I resolved this problem by replacing the dock.

Old dock (which worked fine before the update): Totu USB-C dock.

New dock (that works great after the updated, though I had to update the dock firmware!): Microsoft Surface Dock 2.

Total pita.

(The new dock is very nice, but the old dock really worked fine... until it didn't. This is the second time [across two systems] that I had to upgrade a dock.)