What is your OS? (try uname -a)

Is the file you wrote about named /dev/lp0 or is that in the file? What is the file name? What is garbled? The contents of the file?
(use file yourfilename to see what type of file it is)

Remember to always check the man page on commands to insure what you are about to use is okay, plus it insures you understand what is going on.

And welcome back to the Dark side.