Okay, so it seems it DOES work, BUT
Apparently, the real issue is that nothing happens when I press the auto button, and there's no indication of whether it's on or off, since the arrow at the corner is always there, auto mode or not.
So since the menu doesn't close when I turn auto mode on, and the arrow that should appear when it is on is permanently there, there is no way to know when auto mode is on, which can make it seem like it's not working, depending on the speed it's on.
But it IS working, so I guess my problem is 95% solved.