This applies when new uninitialized drive used.
parted
(parted) print
Error: /dev/sdb: unrecognised disk label
(parted) mklabel gpt
(parted) unit S
(parted) mkpart Name ext3 2048 100%
(parted) align-check optimal 1
1 aligned
Then format must be performed and partition ready to use.
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb1