Is this intermittent issue? As in the JTAG communication passed and failed between intervals.
Or is there any specific action that you execute that could cause JTAG communication error?
The possible causes that this error pop up is that the communications cable, such as the ByteBlasterMV or ByteBlaster II cable, is no long configured or connected. Or you specified a device that does not match the device on the circuit board. As a result, this tool cannot conduct any JTAG communication with the device.
I am suspecting this could be hardware issue. Have you try to program using different cable or device?