I encountered this problem when updating my background to use a 9-patch image. The layout is fine on different screens using different sizes of the same image, but when I change the image to be a 9-patch it breaks the entire layout mysteriously. The previous layout looks like this: Original layout http://onik.org/android/layoutOk.png. When changed to 9-patch: 9-Patch image http://onik.org/android/