In one general embodiment, an apparatus includes a magnetic head, and a controller coupled to the magnetic head, the controller being configured to perform a method that includes measuring humidity in a vicinity of the apparatus in response to detection of an error while performing a data operation on a magnetic recording tape. An error recovery procedure to remove debris on the tape is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity exceeding a predefined upper limit value. An error recovery procedure to remove debris adhering to the magnetic head is executed in response to detection of an error and the measured humidity being below a predefined lower limit value.