From my understanding, the method to program/access the devices will vary, needing specific software, routines..., but the jtag basics is universal, just like USB, the interface will say "Hello, anyone there?" and all the devices should answer back.
So, you should get at least the jtag ID, otherwise I'd look elsewhere, maybe a connection problem, too high frequency (Try 10KHz or so), ot maybe the device is disabling its jtag interface to prevent exactly this.