OK, I realised late last night that you were on a really old version (2.5 years old and 8 + releases). And that it probably didn't have ns in it. ns is not a published command, it was put there to help us who work on it all day long.
We did test Nios 1.0 and Q 1.1, but again, that was so long ago I don't remember specifics.
I don't ever remember an issue with the default image flash files being bad.
People are raving about Nios II, so if you are willing to get a stratix or cyclone board, then you could definately use it. And I think you might be happier.
You could also see about upgrading your 2.0 kit to 3.2. Then use the Quartus 1 year free license to use the latest Quartus/sopc builder.
Sopc Builder is now part of Quartus.
But if you don't want to do that. Lets try to get your board up and running. I'll email you at the email address and see what we can get going. I'll post the final result here.