Anyone have a pressure plate not activate?

[Fishlore]

I went through a part of the game during the Archane University quests where you have to shoot some magic at a pillar, etc. I got through the entire dungeon with no problem. My roomate however is stuck at a certain point. The pressure plate won't engage and the stone wall in three sections won't open.

I've done some checking around and tried using the console command "unlock." I tried unlocking the stone wall which appeared to work and unlocked the pressure plate itself which also seemed to work.

Has anyone had a problem like this? Anyone solve it by some other means than reloading a different save? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.