Created a minimal system. And used direct commands as you suggested.
Still no luck :(. No clue on what's going on! I will try to simulate it next.
I have attached the Qsys screen shot.
IOWR_ALTERA_AVALON_DMA_STATUS(DMA_0_BASE, 0x00);
IOWR_ALTERA_AVALON_DMA_RADDRESS(DMA_0_BASE, SDRAM_0_BASE);
IOWR_ALTERA_AVALON_DMA_WADDRESS(DMA_0_BASE, SDRAM_0_BASE+0x1000);
IOWR_ALTERA_AVALON_DMA_LENGTH(DMA_0_BASE, 128);
IOWR_ALTERA_AVALON_DMA_CONTROL(DMA_0_BASE, 0x008C);
printf("Setting up DMA\n");
while (!(IORD_ALTERA_AVALON_DMA_STATUS(DMA_0_BASE)==0));
 
printf ("Transfer successful!\n");
Results on the console:
Setting up DMA
readaddress =800000, writeaddress =801000, length =80, status =2, control =8c