starting the cyclone development kit of Altera!

I can't answer all your questions I'm afraid. I suggest you ask the other questions in different threads (one question per thread makes things easier for other readers too).

I assume you've tried connecting the ByteBlaster cable to the board as well as verifying the power. If you are still getting this error message then you might have plugged the cable in backwards. If that doesn't work then there is probably a hardware fault with your ByteBlaster or your board.

The tools nios2-terminal and/or nios2-download will tell you if you're communicating with the board (by returning error messages if they can't connect). I'm not sure which of these ucLinux uses in its usual flow to get the board running.