[SMAUG] novice query

[Estelle Baer]

Linux advisors:

Win2000 was cleared from an old laptop and SuSE 7.2,
Kernel 4.4.4, was installed.  A Backpack HD was
connected to the laptop's parallel port.  After
running

    insmod parport
    insmod parport_pc
    insmod paride
    insmod bpck6
    insmod pd

Linux sees the BPHD.  What precisely are the next
commands which are required to mount the BPHD,
assuming that the mount point is to be bphd?
After the BPHD is mounted, it is intended to make
a single partition on it.  (Is just one partition
a good idea?)  What is the command to make the 
partition? After the partition is defined, are 
there other preparations required for this partition
before it can be used?  And finally, are there other 
questions that should have been asked here but which 
would not occur to a novice?