Sometimes the order of operation matters. I hook up the tuneboy cable to the bike with the bike off, laptop on but tune_edit not started. Then I start the tune_edit program. The LED on the cable should blink a few times. Wait for it to stop, I believe it stays on if you have a good connection. Then turn on the bike ignition but don't start the bike.
Doing things in a different sequence has given me problems before. If it still don't work, I might suspect a bad tuneboy cable or possibly a laptop/computer with USB not working right - that's when a computer geek buddy could come in handy.