1. Yes

2. Not really. The only way to root a stock b11 JB phone right now is to use a tool called fastboot to flash cwm recovery and then flash root.zip.

More info:
The easiest way to use fastboot is by downloading junkies AIO tool. You will need to set up your drivers properly in order to use fastboot to flash cwm to your phone. I am assuming you are using Windows on your computer. If so this post should help you. Once you have cwm you have 2 options, flash the root.zip or flash the stock rooted rom found at the bottom of this post

All that said, it is easier to flash cwm recovery on your device first and just install the rooted stock rom.

edit: if you decide to go with the root.zip method, cwm will still be on your device thus not making you stock plus root. I am not sure why you would not want cwm however. It is a very powerful tool allowing full system backups and flashing of custom roms which improve performance and usability of your device.

edit2: If you do not do the over the air update and decide to fastboot cwm instead, you will need to flash this zip before the rooted stock rom

 

another way to do it if i may, its using an app called OTA Root Keeper which ive heard works very well keep in mind it mite not work but if ur stock B09 and havent messed with any files it should work,the app temporarily unroots ur phone and makes a backup so when update to JB will not mess with root once again im a newbie like you and learned a lot from these guys so if u want give a try this is the easiest way IMO. good luck

 

sounds cool...never heard of that one

 

No reason for CWM? That sounds like curse words to me lol. CWM save my phone many of times. Yeah go for it cant hurt ya only could help ya. If you get stuck in a situation.

 

there is an alternative option that doesnt involve installing cwm if anyone is interested. it does still require fastboot though


adb reboot bootloader
fastboot boot cwm.img

adjusting things for path(location of the files relative to where the command prompt currently is set to) and the cwm file name
then install the root zip through cwm, but cwm will not be installed on the phone, it is merely loaded into memory for a one time only use. apon exiting cwm you will no longer have cwm access, the only changes that will be made to your phone will be root components, stock recovery will remain intact

 

junkie, that sounds like a really good solution. The only problem being those blasted fastboot drivers but he needs those setup anyway. I like it

 

yep, sadly cant help a whole lot more there, ive explained all i can about installing drivers in my tutorial

 

If you want a OTA Update and keep root, do SuperR's new ROM. He no bloated it aswell.

 

that is an option, but some want to explore the rom as is, untouched straight from zte, just because we dont like the boostID doesnt mean they dont, and maybe they like having 12 different keyboards taking up space on their system partition, who knows lol. again that would still require cwm though. so any way you slice it, youre gonna need cwm to root the thing because we havent devised an alternative root method and we probably wont considering this one works just fine

 

Glad you got it working walpow. Thanks for reporting back with your success

 

NP walpow happy to hear it worked for you

 

I'm running Shin's Awesome Android 4 and I'm ready to get jelly bean. There's an overwhelming amount of chatter on how to get the update. Could I simply use voodoo root keeper to allow the ota update? Or do I need to abandon AA4 and flash a b11 based ROM? Thanks in advance for any guidance in me quest to jelly bean.

 

the new ota requires new partitions be flashed so b09 roms wont work properly

follow method 1 in this guide:
[GUIDE] N00B Friendly OTA JB Install - Updated 7/14/13

 

Will I lose root?

 

you will probably loose root but there is methods to regain root, also found in the guide. i should update it with the other ways now availible too. So check around the site theres info all over the place for it

 

If you have cwm already you should strongly consider just flashing the jb partitions and a b11 rom.

 

I think I got cmw back when Shin put out his first rom, but of I don't, can I download it again? I was going to try the method you posted in part one under your post in [ROM] Stock B11 Flashable and Deodexed. Well that work without me losing root?
http://androidforums.com/warp-sequent-all-things-root/738401-rom-stock-b11-flashable-deodexed.html

 

If you need to get cwm, you can use the following tools
http://androidforums.com/warp-seque...ot-unroot-recovery-installer-gui-edition.html
http://androidforums.com/warp-sequent-all-things-root/747022-tool-warp2-cwm-recovery-flasher.html

You won't lose root unless you flash an unrooted rom...so don't do that lol