Maybe it needs to be activated by talking to someone. Right now the buttons are inert for me.
By inert you mean they don't even slide the little nodule in and out? I'm not sure how that's possible. There's no connection to the plot or any dialog. Switches can't be disabled. Can you try it and send me your player.log from %APPDATA%\..\LocalLow\Kweepa\UnityUnderground please? (To stevemccrea at gmail dot com)
I had this same issue (Nothing would happen on the grid when I pushed the buttons, even if I used a stick), but then it just started working later in the game. Ironically I only found out because another puzzle in the same area broke on me - The silver/gold switch door. No matter how many times I try the correct order, it won't open.
I found the issue with the Bullfrog puzzle, thanks to someone sending me a player.log - the wand needs to be on the same level as the switches, or on a level that you have visited since you loaded the game. I have fixed it locally. I still haven't found what is wrong with the silver/gold switch door. It doesn't rely on any other object, so it's not a related bug.