I select the most proximate lever in each cluster, using any criteria that would produce a beginning of a discrete order (so no ties for first). If I get infinite “tries” then even if it is an infinitesimally small chance of selecting the functional lever, at some point I will expect to get it.
I have experienced an issue sort of like that in the past, where my computer occasionally won’t do anything other than spin the fans, unless there’s a working connection to a monitor…