How does Oswald's "Reprogramming" ability work?

What does the instruction booklet that came with your game say Oswald's electric button is -- a quick tap of my B button makes a circular blast, and holding it while near the object and pointing at it makes a stream of electricity to reprogram or discomboberate.

Perhaps Mickey needs to tell the game that he is calling Oswald over by pressing his "call mickey" button, or simultaneously press a button, like is indicated in single player mode.
Even in AI Oswald, I have to press to call him, and maybe stand right in front of the device to get zapped. Bring Mickey over.

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You do not befriend the Beetleworx Machine, you befriend the spatter that is inside its head, operating it..
If a Beetleworx has blue Mickeys above it, it is friendly.
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I only know of one Beetleworx that Oswald befriends alone. It is the first time you go down the fountain in Ostown. It almost seems like a cutscene, when Oswald zaps a Hopper chicken in the steamy alcove that contains a red chest and pounding machine.
After being befriended, the Hopper shuts off the steam, so you can get the chest.
Anytime you return, the steam is off, meaning you can just leave him alone.
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Otherwise, individual Beetleworx are operated by spatters inside. (Remember you have unlimited watch sketches to slow others down.) Oswald zaps them with electricity to make them dizzy, and Mickey jumps on their heads to open their head & see the spatter. Then Mickey sprays paint or thinner at the little spatter inside the head.
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If there is a replicator/generator nearby, destroying a Beetleworx just makes the generator open its doors, and produce another. That is when you can either destroy the machine by thinning the red eye inside the open doors.
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You can make the machine and any nearby Beetleworx friendly by having Mickey paint in a nearby power box, and telling Oswald to zap it to reprogram the box.
Stand Mickey really close, so he yelps when Oswald zaps the box.
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Some devices cannot be zapped yet, or are already zapped but only have one "vacuum tube light" lit on top.
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You use the right stick to find the sweet spot. Press the stick down and then either go left or right until you find the spot that vibrates the most. Keep it there for a bit and you'll reprogram successfully.