Hi there,
I made some progress, but I am not there yet.
Obviously I have a problem with uploading FW from Windows. I cannot make it work (any more).
Luckily, I have an ancient spare laptop. Installed Linux and esptool package on it. This way, I was able to upload original FW, as instructed here, using command
esptool.py --chip esp32s3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 --baud 921600 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash -z --flash_mode dio --flash_freq 80m --flash_size 8MB 0x0 xiao_esp32s3_firmware.bootloader.bin 0x8000 xiao_esp32s3_firmware.partitions.bin 0xe000 boot_app0.bin 0x10000 xiao_esp32s3_firmware.bin
After uploading Home Assistant program and also respeaker_lite_i2s_dfu_firmware_v1.0.8.bin, the device is visually again in the same condition as from the beginning (RGB LED on, speaker make scratch sounds). What is not working is voice command in Home Assistant. Initially it worked.
Will put this on hold until my new mini PC arrives. I’ll install Debian desktop there and hopefully will be able to work normally.
Will report here, sure.
Have a nice weekend!