Error - Replications fail with - Win32 call GetVolumePathNameW - The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

Symptom

Replications fail with the following error:

An exception occurred during the request. Win32 call ::GetVolumePathNameW( pathFinal.c_str(), &volumeRootPath[0], (DWORD)volumeRootPath.size() ) failed (123): The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

Cause

This error can occur as a result of a partially installed service pack update (SP1) to SharePoint Foundation 2010. The updated binaries may have been installed during an automatic update, but the SharePoint databases have yet to be updated.

Resolution

Run the following command from an elevated SharePoint 2010 Management shell to determine if additional steps are needed to complete the update.

 
(get-spserver $env:computername).NeedsUpgrade

If the command returns "True", additional steps will be needed to manually complete the service pack process using "PSConfig", before replications can resume.