Found lots of info on what the 5 beeps
mean (exactly as above, though some also note "processor is not usable") and precious little on
what to do about it! Sad Macs says for 4 or 5 beeps, you are best advised to take your computer to an Apple Authorized Service Provider for repair. (and if it's the processor, it likely isn't worth the repair cost) Another site I checked was a tad more blunt about it - "The CPU has died - it's time to visit you favorite dealer to check out his repair unit."
Other things to try, just in case - start up from a CD (if you can manage to get a CD into it), though I doubt that this will work...
And you could try all of these suggestions:
http://www.artsit.usyd.edu.au/labguides/CL...start_iMac.html It's possible that the power outage was either preceded or ended with a power surge. It's worth it to put all your computers on a good quality uninterruptible power supply, which will shield and (probably) shut everything off if there is a surge. We must have had a surge here in MA some time during the night - our computers were all shut down this morning when we got up. It happens once or twice a month - cheap insurance if you ask me!
Good article from
Ars Technica on the subject.
A UPS will not necessarily protect you in the event of a direct lightning strike of course, but for the more common and occasionally damaging surges that can occur, a UPS is a good idea.
More on
lightning. A direct strike is nasty - and may do a LOT more damage than simply fry a CPU or two. A friend of mine's
house burned down in August of this year from a direct strike. Luckily, they all got out, but the 4 year old house had to be torn down last week.
