airport card does not register

This is a well documented issue with the iBook G4 1.33 12". This ibook model has a problem with the airport/bluethoot socket on the logic board. Most of the times the socket failure generate kernel panicks events but sometimes the card is just not "seen" by the computer. You may try to open the ibook top case and insert a few paper sheets under the grey plastic bracket that holds the AP card to the heatsink this will produce a better contact in the socket but IMHO this trick doesn't last very long so it's better to take off the card and use a wireless USB dongle.