In some versions of Mac OS X 10.2, the PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.33 GHz) computer's internal microphone does not work when the computer is running on battery power.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later, which allows the microphone to work on battery power. It is available in Software Update preferences, or from Apple Downloads (
http://www.apple.com/swupdates/).