External sound is off

My wife has a Gateway laptop that recently stopped playing audio
through her speakers. I looked at it and didn't see any reason why.

I noticed that when I disconnect her computer from the docking
station, the audio works. I brought up some headphones that work for
me, and plugged it into the disconnected computer's audio out, and the
internal speakers turned off - but I did not hear sound through my
headphones.

What could be causing this problem?

What did Gateway say about the problem?

Howard Brazee wrote:

> My wife has a Gateway laptop that recently stopped playing audio
> through her speakers. I looked at it and didn't see any reason why.
>
> I noticed that when I disconnect her computer from the docking
> station, the audio works. I brought up some headphones that work for
> me, and plugged it into the disconnected computer's audio out, and the
> internal speakers turned off - but I did not hear sound through my
> headphones.
>
> What could be causing this problem?