Call Recording on HTC Desire : The WORKING solution

Posted by: AndroidAppLog December 7, 2011 in Rooting & Flashing, Tips 1 Comment

Been googling for HTC Desire call recording, Call recording on HTC desire or something similar? If you have been using the HTC Desire for at least a few months now, you probably know what it takes to record calls on it.

What you want is not just recording calls on HTC desire but also

Recording 2 way conversation
Recording automatically
Recording other party voice as clear and loud as yours
Recording via line rather than jut microphone
Recording it without speakerphone (the ugly way of recording calls)

The tests were taken on HTC Desire only and may or may not fetch the same results on other device. These tests are subject to internal hardware and software specification. If you are not able to record calls from line despite several attempts, you can refer the below guide, but we do not assure it works for your device.

Recording calls on HTC Desire in three different ways, what works and what not.

Case 1:

Many users are using stock HTC Desire with official rom’s and using Call recorders apps from various developers (like total recall, tango, allcallrecorder, Schass Innab and so on) figuring out the best one. But all they end up doing is stuffing up their precious memory and resources. Finally what they get is an automated call recorder, probably the best but it doesn’t record calls in noisy area’s because the microphone is usually busy in clearing of background noises which also include the low voice levels from the phone’s speaker(not speakerphone).

This is achieved with non rooted devices using stock ROM’s.
This method gives recording conversation on speaker or off speaker via microphone with really low levels of voice. This method gives 2 way line recording (with clear voice on both ends) on certain devices but not HTC desire.

Case 2:

Using a Rooted device (HTC Desire) and an app like “Call Recorder” from skvalex (an XDA member), rVoix or any other powerful solution like that. Though these apps have worked like a charm on most of the other devices, HTC Desire owners have still had complaints regarding poor audio quality of other party and recording is done with microphone. The main issue arises due to the radio version and kernel of the device which may be old or does not include required modules, in simple words the capability to record from line. So with this kind of solution your device will still be only able to record via microphone and not line on HTC Desire but will for a few devices which failed to deliver results in Case1. This method can work for a few HTC Desire devices if you are on a ROM which includes required radio and kernel version.

This result was achieved using rooted devices with custom ROM’s
The method leaves you with 50-50 chances of success and is working for devices with new ROM’s and radio versions. Please check the compatibility list in the last section of post.

Case 3:

If you are using the right radio, the right kernel, the right app for recording things will go well and you will be able to record every like a charm. The only issue you may face is while you make outbound calls you need to start recording only after the call is connected or you may end up with the badly recorded call which used microphone for recording rather than line.

The trouble with the outgoing calls needs your help!!! It seems to be a userspace- rather than kernel-related issue: e.g., LeeDroid 2_3d ROM was confirmed to record outgoing calls as well. I’m unable to solve this because I have no Desire (i.e., the device), but I suspect that it may be caused by some other app like dialer or voice dialing stuff stealing the mic before the recording is started. — says XDA member and kernel patcher avs333.

Requirements for the call recorders to work on HTC Desire:

Root Access, S-OFF, Check the Guide
Update.zip file with patched kernel, download files from attachment list here
Radio version 32.54.00.32U_5.14.05.17 , choose from the list here.
rVoix app, download here, (if doesn’t work then check this)

Setting up Call recording on HTC DESIRE:

Start by updating your Radio, can be done in two ways :

Flashing as zip file from clockworkmod recovery menu(accessed via power + volumedown button when phone is off)
Using fastboot over USB (requires radio.img file, which can be extracted from the zip package)

To follow please disable HTC sync, make sure you have the drivers installed if you uninstalled HTC Sync. Put phone in charge only mode then follow below steps.

Use commands:

Open command prompt in your computer, go to android sdk directory> tools (it’s where adb resides)

If you have a new version of Android SDK, your adb is in folder platform-tools folder while fastboot still resides in …/tools/. In Command prompt go to- android sdk directory> platform-tools (in this case copy all files form platform-tools to tools folder for this process temporarily which demands adbwinapi.dll and adbwinusbapi.dll usually)

adb devices                    (optional command to check if phone is connected in adb)
adb reboot bootloader           (reboots phone to bootloader menu)
fastboot devices               (optional command to check if phone is connected in fastboot)
fastboot flash radio radio.img  ( flashes radio)

Flashing a radio is risky so please exercise caution while doing so and follow the steps as mentioned. The flashing radio takes place in two steps- sending radio and writing radio. If you are stuck on sending radio by chance please see your phone screen and an upload bar on top right to see progress, if file isn’t uploading in this step for more than fifteen minutes (see the top right corner of your screen for upload bar) then you can restart the steps and use command to check fastboot devices. Disconnecting phone is risky but if your phone is not connected in fastboot mode then you can disconnect your phone’s USB. Please use a high speed USB port and high speed cable or the process could take more than 15 minutes with a slow cable. Once your phone moves to the second step of writing radio you should not disconnect the cable by any chance and there is a high probability that you may brick your phone. The whole process is quick and generally takes between 1-15 minutes depending on speed of sending radio image to phone and your USB cable speed.

Flash the update.zip file from clockworkmod recovery menu.

Power off your device
hold buttons power + volumedown(-) , this turns on the phone in recovery menu
Choose “apply update from sdcard”
Confirm with “Yes – Install /sdcard/update.zip” (make sure you replace your update.zip file in your SDcard root folder with the newly downloaded update.zip file and rename it to update.zip if it is not already) . You can also keep a backup of your old update.zip file in any other folder.
Once successfully completed, reboot your device in normal mode.

Download rVoix app and install it.

Auto recording Incoming calls works as supposed but there’s still problem with Outgoing calls as mentioned earlier. But you can still record calls by a manual confirmation during call. This will ask you each time whether you want to record the outgoing call.

Go to Settings->Outgoing calls->Default action, select “Ask each time”
When you call somebody, the Record Call ? – Yes/No window will appear asking if the call should be recorded.
?ress YES button only after your caller responds! And you are good to go.

Now you can configure your call recorder from skvalex (if used instead of rVoix) or rVoix according to your requirements to get the best output. Few XDA members have also written a command for tasker which lets you automatically trigger outbound call recording without manually doing and still recording it the good way(only after caller answers). Try it if you need more automated operation on you HTC Desire.

This process works on GSM HTC Desire. Do not try on CDMA version without prior knowledge. The process is risky and you may brick your phone. Use at your own risk, though we try to keep the process as simple and safe, we cannot assure you perfect results due to variations in device hardware, software’s and steps followed.

You can leave comments on your experience to improve this guide and help other users know about better alternatives if any.