Either NVIDIA Driver works OR laptop hardware works - but not both - 20.04

Problem: Either the laptop can run 20.04, kernel 5.15.0-79-generic, and the nvidia driver loads and works, OR I can update the kernel to >5.19 to enable most laptop hardware but "nvidia-smi" returns "nvidia-smi has failed because it couldn't communicate with the NVIDIA driver." Attempts to reinstall the NVIDIA driver have all been unsuccessful.

Specifics:

• We have a development requirement to use Ubuntu 20.04 and cannot use 22.04 or other Ubuntu version at this time
• We are developing on amd64 hardware platforms with nvidia GPUs
• The newest laptops we have are Dell G15 5530 models, and when Ubuntu 20.04 is installed much of the laptop hardware does not work properly, if at all; e.g. touchpad, audio, HDMI output, integrated camera.
• The nvidia-driver-535 installs successfully on the vanilla 20.04 installation, however any attempt to upgrade the kernel to something later than 5.15.0-79-generic in order to enable the newer hardware results in working hardware (like the touchpad etc.) but then the NVIDIA drivers will not properly load.

What I've Tried So Far:

• Installed Ubuntu 22.04 to test whether the newer OS/kernel enables the hardware that isn't recognized/enabled under 20.04. The partial output from inxi -Fxxx from the 22.04 install is below

• Likewise, the output of "xinput list" shows that the onboard peripherals are detected properly under 22.04 (specifically VEN_04F3:00 04F3:32B4 Touchpad)

• I have tried installing 20.04 with no updates and no third party drivers, then upgrading the kernel to 5.19 (the first kernel that seems to support the hardware in this Dell G15 5530), then installing NVIDIA driver 535 after the kernel upgrade, but it fails

• I have tried installing the nvidia driver under kernel 5.15, and then upgrading the kernel, and then "recompiling" the NVIDIA driver against the new kernel version

• I looked for a way to "backport" the hardware drivers from kernel 5.19 / 22.04 Jammy into 20.04 / 5.15 in a similar way I have had in the past to fix the infamous non-working wifi module but was unable to find an appropriate package to backport.

• I've tried using the various "modprobe" suggestions from numerous forum posts to get the NVIDIA drivers working, or to get the HID / i2c drivers working/recognizing hardware, neither approach has been successful.

At this time I'm stuck and at a loss for what to try next and would appreciate any and all input on the matter. I'm happy to provide outputs or further details from my end but as someone relatively new to Ubuntu/Linux environment my innate knowledge on how to proceed is limited.

$ sudo inxi -Fxxx
System:
  Host: ubuntu-spare Kernel: 5.19.0-50-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A
    Desktop: GNOME 42.9 tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM3 42.0
    Distro: Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Dell G15 5530 v: N/A serial: 
    Chassis: type: 10 serial: 
  Mobo: Dell model: 0F072Y v: A00 serial: //
    UEFI: Dell v: 1.5.0 date: 06/08/2023
CPU:
  Info: 14-core (6-mt/8-st) model: 13th Gen Intel Core i7-13650HX bits: 64
    type: MST AMCP smt: enabled arch: N/A rev: 1 cache: L1: 1.2 MiB
    L2: 11.5 MiB L3: 24 MiB
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: DP-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:a78b class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Dell driver: nvidia v: 535.86.05 pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 ports: active: none off: HDMI-A-1 empty: eDP-2
    bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:28e0 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-3:2 chip-ID: 0bda:5522 class-ID: fe01 serial: 200901010001
  Display: server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 compositor: gnome-shell driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Monitor-1: HDMI-1-0 pos: right res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 94
    size: 521x293mm (20.5x11.5") diag: 598mm (23.5")
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: primary,left res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 142
    size: 344x193mm (13.5x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5")
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (RPL-S)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 22.2.5-0ubuntu0.1~22.04.3 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel vendor: Dell driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:7a50 class-ID: 0401
  Device-2: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 8 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:22be class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.19.0-50-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:14.3
    chip-ID: 8086:7a70 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: dc:46:28:12:87:93
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: 3000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200