Leave the bare wires alone. Hook black to one screw and white to the other. If that does not work, something else is wrong.

I have my doubts that this is a serious question. But my suggestion is to turn the breaker back on.

You might try putting the old switch back in the circuit.
You might try the new switch in a different room.
New does not always equal good.

If there is a red wire, is this a 3-way circuit?

@ weedmeister
Even if only two wires, one red one black?

" I've tried every combination of wires"

obviously, no you have not.....

Is this a joke or something?

If there are only two wires, there is only one "combination of wires". What is the point here? You either have a bad switch, burned out light bulb, or forgot to turn the breaker back on.