mkdir "No such file or directory" within a directory that exists

Question

I have a network (samba) share mounted at /run/user/1000/gvfs/smb-share:server=wdmycloud,share=family. Most activities work fine within the share - I can move stuff around, create and delete files, etc. However, if I cd into Music/Various Artists (both of which definitely exist) and try to create a specific directory, it fails:

$ mkdir "Pretty in Pink: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘Pretty in Pink: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’: No such file or directory

mkdir -p also fails:

$ mkdir -p "Pretty in Pink: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘Pretty in Pink: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’: No such file or directory

However, mkdir functions fine for other directory names:

$ mkdir test
# no output, directory created

What's special about the name Pretty in Pink: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack that mkdir chokes on it? How can I get around this issue?

Please don't judge me for the music, I'm doing this for someone else...

Answer 1

Colons aren’t valid characters on SMB/CIFS shares — Windows uses them for drive letters. The failing directory name contains one, which is why mkdir fails.