Drywall ? again...Need expert and detailed instruction

I'm no contractor but my step-dad is.

 I would say that you would sand the wall first, patch and sand lightly after until smooth.

Oh, thanks...good info. 

The crack is slighting raised, as if someone pushed the drywall from the inside of the wall, and actually a little "flaky" because of it. 

Should I "break" this crack area so that there is no raise at all, so I guess I'd have to cut some of the drywall out, so eventually i'd be looking at a hole (before I patch).

OR

Should I just try to push the crack back even with flakes and all, and try to tape and compound over it to flatten it out?

(I think you'll suggest #1 but just want to make sure). 

Thanks again for your help.  I tried to take a picture but the wall is white so it's nearly impossible to see it. 

Regarding your question, I'd say if I took off all the flakes and little cracked parts, it would be about 1/2 inch open gap. 

But there's something else I might not be explaining right so here it goes.  If you think of a triangular block, like one of those parking space concrete stoppers at the end of the parking space (they are sort of triangular in shape with the bottom thicker and the top thinner, like a triangle), so you don't go too far forward.  If you can imagine the floor of the parking lot as the wall, and the actual concrete stopper as the raised cracked area.  (This is a slight exageration).  So, if I took off the flake and cracks from the top of the concrete stopper, you will still have the rest of the raised concrete stopper, just not the top part, where the cracked particles were. 

So I could keep tearing apart this concrete stopper or I could try to push back the stopper after I cleared away the cracked particles from the actual crack.

And this is what I'm using as the patch kit which home depot suggested.  It's hyde's wet and set wall and ceiling repair patch.  Is this what I should be using or some sort of drywall tape?

http://www.jnkproducts.com/wetandsetdrywallpatchrepair.htm 

How to patch a crack in drywall (the pro way)

You need

Drywall mud (joint compound)
drywall tape
6, 8, 12 inch drywall knives
mud pan

begin with 6 inch knife and lay a thin coat of mud down both sides of the crack. If the crack is straight, you can pull the mud down the wall in one stroke. The smoother you make this, the less sanding you will have to do.

Unroll the tape over the crack and mud. Smoorth out any bubbles with the small kniofe. Make sure that the tape is firmly embedded in the mud.  If the crack meanders, you will need to tear bits of tape to follow the crack. The tape keeps the original crack from re-forming. Joint compound shrinks as it dries, and if you don't use tape, the crack will re-open.

Allow the patch to dry

For your second coat, use the 8 inch knife. pull the mud as thin and smooth over the crack as you can. If you can cover the crack in one stroke, that's better.

allow to dry and sand out any high spots

repeat the above, with the 12 inch knife.

essentially you are creating a bump in the wal that's so smoothly tapered into the existing plaster that you can't tell it's there without a straightedge. 

Make sure you use the paper tape or pre-glued mesh to span over the crack. If the wall is cracked due to movement and might still move, it will crack in the same spot.  Drywall compound has very little tensile strenght.

 FWIW I did not stay at the Holiday Inn Express last night, but I am a structural engineer and a home owner.

 Mike